THE HUMAN SPECIES. 363 



Hindoos, whence all the conquering races of the type first 

 brought their heroes, demigods, and legislators; the whole, 

 both of the south and the east, ultimately pointing to Thibet as 

 the cradle of the Caucasian Man. 



At the western extremity of the Himalaya chain, beneath 

 the plateau of Thibet, is situated the basin of Cashmere, sur- 

 rounded on all sides by lofty mountains, and peaks covered 

 with lasting snow. From this region flow four or five con- 

 siderable affluents, which give its principal importance to the 

 Indus. Where this great stream, by the natives called the 

 Sind and Neelab, breaks from the north through the mountain 

 gorge, commences Hindu-Koh, the real Caucasus and Imans 

 of the ancients, Kaf, or Kauf, of Arabian writers, a region so 

 elevated that the greater portion is covered with permanent 

 snow. The central mountain system is overlooked by the peak 

 of Hindu-Koh, the culminating point, though others, like 

 Kooner, to the east, and Kohi-Baba, at the western extremity, 

 rise, one more than 15,000, and the other to 1S,000 feet above 

 the sea. From the vicinity of the last, the region is bounded 

 on the north by the first feeders of the Oxus, forming another 

 Punjaub, and on the south by the river Cabul, which, passing 

 the foot of the Kohi-Baba (the special Kaf of oriental fiction), 

 flows eastward to the Indus, forming one of the richest valleys 

 in the world for every species of cultivation. Further south, 

 beyond the peaks of Suffeed Koh, commence spurs or prolonga- 

 tions, passing nearly at right angles from the main chain. 

 One, the most western, lower than the other, is the Ghiljee, 

 and the other, more elevated, forming the occidental side of 

 the valley of the Indus, soon rises to a chain, which contains, 

 further south, the peak of the Dove, where, at a remote period, 

 it was already fabled that the ark rested, according to the 

 legends of Northern India. It is not less than 12,000 feet in 

 elevation, and now known by the appellation of Takt-y- 

 Soleimaun. 



From Hindu-Koosh, a lofty chain, now known by the name 



